In response to this trend, the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) was created in 1998, specifically in response to the death of Rita Hester on November 28. Since then, vigils have been held yearly to commemorate the lives lost to this violence every year. Not a year has gone by in which there was not a list to be read out on this day. This year, Transgender Day of Remembrance falls on Monday, November 20.

In Reform congregations, acknowledgements and observances of TDOR can be an important way to show transgender congregants that their community is not silent when it comes to the issues they face daily. These can also be ways to declare to surrounding communities that Reform Jews will not accept sinat chinam, baseless hatred, in our midst. Our Jewish values compel us to comfort the bereaved and oppressed, as well as to speak openly against oppression.